Charting a successful path from Iowa to industry
PHOTO: Seth Diehl
Biomedical engineering student Juliann Pawlowski in the Seamans Center for the Engineering Arts and Sciences.
As Juliann Pawlowski prepares to graduate from the University of Iowa in spring 2026, she can relax about one item on her to-do list: finding a job.
The first-generation student from Plainfield, Illinois, credits her Iowa experiences with helping her land a post-graduation role as a manufacturing engineer at Procter & Gamble in Iowa City.
Class of 2026
Biomedical engineering
Those experiences included an internship made possible through a Hawkeye Experience Grant, which awards funds to assist students with hands-on learning outside the classroom.
The summer after her second year at Iowa, Pawlowski—who is majoring in biomedical engineering, with a focus in bioimaging, and minoring in business administration—worked as a manufacturing engineering intern for a medical device design and manufacturing company in Michigan.
“It was a great learning opportunity that led me to manufacturing,” Pawlowski says. “But I never would have been able to afford going to Michigan without the grant.”
The following summer, she was a process engineering intern at Procter & Gamble, where she learned about making toothbrushes. “It’s bigger process than I thought,” she says. “A toothbrush is a medical device, so you have to follow FDA safety standards.”
“Iowa offers so many opportunities. Wherever you set your horizons, you can reach them at Iowa.” —Juliann Pawlowski
That eye-opening internship led to her full-time job after graduation. However, it wasn’t the only transformative opportunity Pawlowski’s had at Iowa.
With help from the Office of Undergraduate Research during her first year, she became an undergraduate research assistant in a genetics lab within the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. There, she worked on a project using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze face emotions, which led her to the bioimaging track.
“Having a coding mindset is important because the world is becoming more AI and coding driven,” says Pawlowski. “I’ll always be able to use these skills.”
To show her appreciation for such life-changing skills, she has found several ways to give back, including serving as a tutor for TRIO Student Support Services and as a lead peer advisor in the College of Engineering.
Pawlowski is proud of everything she has accomplished thus far—and says she’s not the only one.
“My parents are so excited for me—and for my older brother. I’m proud to have followed in his footsteps to Iowa and engineering,” she says. “They came from another country to give us this life, and we’ve been able to fulfill their ambitions.”
Hawkeye Experience Grants
Hands-on learning opportunities such as internships, research, and study abroad can greatly enhance Iowa students’ personal, professional, and academic success.
Hawkeye Experience Grants help cover the costs of applied learning experiences outside the classroom. They can assist with fees and other expenses such as food, rent, utilities, and travel.
